Police Reports: Car Thieves Call Full Attention to Themselves

Two men made themselves so conspicuously suspicious a police officer just had to check them out, and sure enough, they were driving a stolen car.

At 4:22 a.m. Monday, a Wauwatosa patrol officer reported that two men had briefly fled in and then abandoned a car after he approached them. He was driving on Blue Mound Road when a Pontiac Bonneville left the BMO Harris Bank at 7635 Blue Mound and came toward him.

The office said that when they passed him, the two occupants – the driver and a passenger sitting on the driver's side in the back seat – were staring intently at him. Because of the early hour of the morning, the bank location and their behavior, he made a U-turn to follow.

The driver accelerated suddenly and turned sharply onto North 75th Street, then came to a sudden stop, and the two men leaped out and ran, disappearing into the night.

Without any immediate backup, the officer stayed with the abandoned car, which soon proved to have been stolen in West Allis.

An area check turned up no sign of the subjects.

In other recent incidents:

Tuesday

A resident of the 1400 block of Martha Washington Drive reported that overnight someone slashed a tire on her car while it was parked, with permission, at nearby Grandma’s House daycare center, 6119 W. Vliet St. She said the tire went flat a short distance from home when she was driving her kids to school, and the AAA technician who changed it for her pointed out the sidewalls appeared to have been slashed, which police confirmed.

Sunday

A 19-year-old Wauwatosa man was arrested for felony bail jumping after he once again was found staying at Courtyard Apartments, 12250 W. North Ave., in violation of a court order. He had been issued “no contact” orders strictly barring him from the premises after a number of arrests for possession of narcotics and for thefts and burglaries against neighbors in the apartments, which are primarily occupied by the elderly. The man began staying there with his grandmother after losing his apartment in Milwaukee, but he has now for the fourth time been arrested there for defying no-contact orders. He was taken to the County Jail.

A Kewaskum man reported that between 12:45 and 5:45 p.m., while his car was parked at the Pick ‘n Save at 6950 W. State St., someone smashed in the front passenger window. Nothing was missing from the car and it appeared it wasn’t actually entered.

At 3:16 p.m., a 23-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for theft at Mayfair Mall after being accused of stealing a pair of sunglasses from Solstice Sunglass Boutique. Store and mall security as well as police converged on the man and found him with the goods in his pocket, the sales tag still attached.

Saturday

At 6:25 p.m., a resident of the 4500 block of North 103rd Street reported that unknown subjects had just thrown rocks at her home, breaking a window. She said she had been in the kitchen when she heard a window shatter, went into her living room and found the window out and a rock lying on her table near it. Police investigated and found that in fact three separate panes had been broken with multiple projectiles.

An employee of Restoration Hardware in Mayfair Mall reported that between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. someone stole her wallet from the back room of the store and used her credit card to make multiple fraudulent purchases.

At 1:24 p.m., a 32-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested at Macy’s in Mayfair Mall after she was seen hiding a $350 Armani men’s coat in a shopping bag and trying to leave with it. She had first approached a cashier with the coat bearing a $9.99 sales price, but the cashier refused to believe that was correct and sent her back to the menswear department to have the coat priced. The suspect, who later told police she wanted the coat for her boyfriend but couldn’t afford it, instead bagged it to go, but didn’t get far.

A Mequon woman reported that between 11:45 a.m. and 12:12 p.m., while she was at DSW Shoes, 2265 N. Mayfair Rd., someone broke in a window in her vehicle and stole her cell phone, briefcase and business checks.